Productivity: How Evernote Works for Moms, Businesses and Everything in Between

By Carley Knobloch (Founder, Digitwirl)
In my experience, I’ve found that women have different needs than men when it comes to technology. Women often ask: How will this save me time? How can this save me money? How will it help me get things done faster so I can spend more time with my family?

When I became a mom, I was struck by how my life was turned upside down and I wasn’t as organized as I used to be. It inspired me to create my coaching and consulting practice, Mothercraft. I started a weekly newsletter and when I began attaching a video to the newsletter, it really took off… and the idea for Digitwirl was born!

I’m a busy mom of two, running my own business, looking for tools that can help me manage my life — and since I can’t live without Evernote, it’s no surprise that it’s been one of the most popular Digitwirl episodes we’ve aired.

Here’s a look at how I use Evernote

For Collaboration —

Digitwirl’s content director is in New York and I’m in Los Angeles, so we use a shared Evernote notebook to communicate about technologies that we want to cover. We tag all of the products according to type (travel, beauty, home organization). When we’re going over materials and I’m trying to remember the name of a digital luggage scale that lets you know if you overpack, I can search through tags like “travel” and “luggage” but also inside of everything I’ve written or clipped. I never have to have that moment of “I sort of remember, but don’t really remember.” Learn how to start sharing notes here.For Business —

When I started my new business, I opened all of my bank accounts with Evernote. I didn’t bring any paper to the bank. I had my EIN and my article of incorporation scanned into Evernote.

For Gift Ideas —

When I’m out and about with my kids and they say “I want that!” I take a picture of the item and tag it with “want”. The next time I’m on Amazon and want to buy a present, I browse through my notes tagged “want.”

For Instruction Manuals —

Every time I get a new device, the instruction manual gets scanned into Evernote. Before Evernote, I had a big box full of instruction manuals for things like my washing machine from my old house. Now, I can keep things up to date; if something is out of date, I delete it.

For Warranties, Receipts and Contracts —

I save warranties for appliances like my washer and drier in Evernote, as well as receipts. I also have a contracts and agreements notebook. For photos of kids’ art: I take a lot of photographs of my kids’ artwork — especially their 3D art. We do a lot of “this has lived its life on the counter, let’s take a picture of it to remember it and then throw it away.” The kids love looking through this notebook. It’s a sentimental place for me and for them.

For Class Rosters and School Documents —

I keep my kids’ class rosters in Evernote. I have a class rosters notebook with each scanned note labeled by year and kid, along with important school forms and notices, and all their report cards.

For Travel —

Evernote keeps me organized when I travel and attend conferences. I email myself all kinds of correspondence that’s important. I have one notebook for each event I’m going to. Right now, I have a notebook for my speaking engagement at BlogHer. It includes my speaker agreement, hotel reservation information, itinerary, information on meetings I need to attend, etc. When I get there, I know I can pull up my phone and have everything in one place.

Evernote is like having a filing cabinet in your back pocket. All of my important documents follow me wherever I go — my house is virtually paperless and all of my information is accessible whenever I need it, from wherever I am. It’s one of those rare services that becomes more useful as time goes on. The best part is, using Evernote means never having to say to someone, “Oh I left it in my other purse,” or “Oh it’s in my hard drive.”

Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.About the guest blogger: Carley Knobloch is Founder of Digitwirl, a weekly web show that teaches women how to make technology work for them. Carley has held various creative positions in digital Hollywood, building some of the first-ever film and television websites for clients like Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. She is a regular contributor to Lifetime’s The Balancing Act. In 2001, she started her consulting practice, Mothercraft, to help coach moms on how they can simplify and organize their lives. Follow her on Twitter at @carleyknobloch.